damage tuning and progression

[PhamTrinli]

I think the damage of (not only, but especially) the underground sea biome enemies is too high.

I don't like feeling, as a player, the the more I work and progress through the game, the more (relatively weak I get compared to an area's monsters)

In the beginning you feel like you're about on-par with each monster, you can sit there and trade blows about evenly with the starting mobs in beginner gear and your even significantly stronger than them once you get the best gear that area has to offer.

Then you move on to the next area and you run into mobs who are still as strong as you even once you've obtained the best gear that area has to offer.

Then you move on to the next biome and immediately you are almost getting 2-shot but the mobs there and later on even with the best gear you can get you still feel very vulnerable all the time and have to be cautious about what you fight

...And then you get to the underground sea biome.. and even after getting a full set of improved octarine gear, you are still getting pelted constantly for 1/4 to 1/3 of your entire health bar (even with several permanent health upgrades) - through the best gear you can get for that area and are constantly chugging potions to stay alive and feel extremely vulnerable whenever there are several monsters in the same area that you have to fight at the same time.

I hope you can see where I'm going with this by now..

As you progress through the game you keep feeling more relatively weak to the current area than you did relative to the last area. And please don't misunderstand - I don't mean you feel weaker to the last area than to the current area. I'm saying you feel weaker to the current area than you did when the last area was your current area of progression.

It's almost like you are getting stronger all the time just to feel weaker. And again, don't misunderstand - I'm not saying each area shouldn't get more challenging than the previous area. I'm saying that it shouldn't be more challenging to you once you've obtained the best gear and upgrades you can get than the last area was to you when you had the best gear and upgrades that area had to offer you. That is a feeling that is just counter-intuitive to progression and the opposite of being rewarded for progressing through the game. It's like you're being penalized for getting stronger, because you don't actually feel stronger at all because each area you progress through makes you feel relatively weaker than the area before it did. And on a personal note, it's actually making me not want to play the game because the game is getting less fun the further I go through it. I feel like nothing I am doing or accomplishing is being rewarded or at least the rewards are not commensurate with the level of challenge each new area poses.

IMO you should always feel relatively weak when entering a new area compared to that area's enemies, but once you obtain the best that area has to offer you should feel like you are at least as strong if not stronger than that area's enemies - and certainly not super vulnerable once you've got the best you can get from that area.

I think maybe I can best illustrate what I'm saying with the following:

Strength/Survivability of Character || Strength/Threat of Monsters

Starting out area 1 = 0 || 1
End of progression in area 1 = 1 || 1

Starting out area 2 = 1 || 3
End of progression in area 2 = 2 || 3

Starting out area 3 = 2 || 5
End of progression in area 3 = 3 || 5

Starting out area 4 = 3 || 7
End of progression in area 4 = 4 || 7

So enemies are getting stronger at faster/sharper curve than what you can keep up with in terms of character and gear progression

This is what I would propose:

Starting out area 1 = 0 || 1
End of progression area 1 = 2 || 1

Starting out area 2 = 2 || 3
End of progression area 2 = 4 || 3

Starting out area 3 = 4 || 5
End of Progression area 3 = 6 || 5

etc. etc.

[Ferret]

might need to max your skills a bit more. lvling cooking, farming and crafting are the fastest and they give massive practical combat buffs. like +20% damage and +25% crit dam and also (and this a big one if your are getting hit hard) +50% Armor. but one of the best things in the game for reducing damage is a shield. No joke learn to use a shield well and the game gets 5 times easier. as for the mobs being to strong, i think it's coz you should be treating each biome as an expansion, kinda like in an mmorpg where all your gear you earned in the last expac suddenly only kills the weakest mobs and you gotta grind up to BiS again. Anyway that's just my 2 cents hope it helps.

[Phara]

In my experience the difficulty got easier with the water biome. But preparing for bosses is a huge bonus. Like getting the set bonus doing 25% more damage to bosses. Maybe getting creative using walls or holes to block projectiles or approching enemies.

[Trashmatesalldaway]

Idk man, im not maxed out or anything.. yet 2shot the sea biome monsters. 3hit with melee. Same in the wilderness.
First i used the blow pipe, then new bow, now new staff from the sea cavelings. +Reinforce.
Hope helped something.

[Archon]

pretty easy to dodge as long as you don't get caught off guard. Slippery can really slow you down but if you're in a boat it don't matter and if you kill the tentacles you can outrange the rest.

But yeah, I remember getting to the stone caveling area and getting one shot by a giant (on my hardcore character) when I went to see how much damage it would do with iron armor and carrot food. Probably needed some more vitality from combat xp

[Dresta]

i agree but for me its the bosses. Massive Hp pools that are just massive slogs to fight and no real practical way to kill them. Id understand a hard more haveing this kind of HP and Dmg output but even just in a regular playthough i find them infuriating. The lack of post dmg i-frames doesnt help with the new boss and the crabs shotgunning bubbles/tornados